Peter Aitken , Anders Hagstrom – July 7, 2022
Boris Johnson announced plans to resign as prime minister of the United Kingdom on Thursday in a tumultuous end for a government that once enjoyed a strong democratic mandate.
Johnson’s roughly three-year tenure ended in disarray after he threatened a standoff with his party and a possible general election following the resignation of 42 ministers who deemed his position “untenable.” He says new leadership is “clearly now the will” of Parliament.
Johnson hopes to remain in a caretaker position as his Conservative Party elects a new prime minister, a process that may take roughly two months.
“I have appointed a new cabinet who will serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place,” he said. “When the herd instinct moves, it moves.”
Conservative ministers declared that they had lost confidence in the prime minister after news emerged he had elevated Chris Pincher to the powerful role of deputy chief whip despite allegations of sexual misconduct.
But it was not the only scandal that Johnson’s government had to wrangle with. It was merely the final one that ministers could tolerate, bringing an end to his sole ambition and goal in politics.
“Boris Johnson’s place in history is assured given his stewardship of Brexit, vaccine rollout during the COVID-19 crisis and staunch defense of the free world in Ukraine,” Alan Mendoza, co-founder and executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital.